Kopf der Nofretete, Amenophis IV./Echnaton

CommentaryThis almost life-sized head probably decorated one of the fourteen border stele in Tell el-Amarna. These border stele were erected by Amenophis IV (1377-1358 B.C.) with the transfer of his residence from Thebes to Achet-Aton, later known as Tell el-Amarna. On the head is a steeply rising, crown-like headdress with a level top, typical for the depiction of Nofretete and reserved for her. Missing from the face is the chin, part of the mouth, nose and right ear. The uraeus over the middle of the forehead on the body of the crown has also been severely damaged or knocked off. A similar crown is worn by the famous colored bust of Nofretete to be found in the Egyptian collection of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, which was discovered during excavations in Tell el-Amarna in the workshops of the sculptor Thutmosis. Paul Vogt, who was particularly interested in expanding the Museum Folkwang’s archeological collection, succeeded in adding this delicate head of the Egyptian queen carved in limestone to the Egyptian collection begun by Karl Ernst Osthaus with the support of the Düsseldorf banking house Trinkhaus & Burkhardt in 1961.